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Author
Topic: AMG 2007 Informational Website (Read 5915 times)

This is a site I created to help consolidate information about the 2007 AMG without people having to wade through lots of posts. Last year, we had a single thread dedicated to the structure of the event which worked well. I hope this is a better format for presenting the information.

Please comment and let me know if we want a website like this or if a thread here in the forums is better suited. For reference, you can find the old 2006 information thread here: http://forums.poz.com/index.php?topic=222.0

I'm not trying to usurp anything from anyone. If you all think this is a good idea, the coordinators will have full access to edit this free, easy to use and update website.

Also, please keep in mind this was thrown together in a couple hours and can use improvements, but it's in a pretty coherent state now with most of the relevant information.

*edit: i should note I merely copy and pasted most of the text into the site with little orignal content by me. Most content was created by other users here and I merely compiled it. It wouldn't have been possible without those who took many, many hours to do the real research of this.

Bailey,Nice job! I think this will be very helpful for those attending or thinking of attending.

One addition that I think would be useful would be a running list of confirmed attendees with arrival and departure dates/times. Name of airport (Oakland or S.F.), airline, and flight times could help people hook up with each other right at the airport.

Thanks very much for doing this. It's especially nice, since I seem to recall you didn't think you would be attending.

Excellent job Bailey, it's easy to navigate and well laid out. Um, but... I find it difficult to read. The white font on grey and olive kinda dances in front of my eyes. I have that problem anytime I encounter white font. And where the print flows over the gray/olive divide... ouch.

I had to be honest about this Bailey - I love it overall but hate the white font.

"...health will finally be seen not as a blessing to be wished for, but as a human right to be fought for." Kofi Annan

Nymphomaniac: a woman as obsessed with sex as an average man. Mignon McLaughlin

HIV is certainly character-building. It's made me see all of the shallow things we cling to, like ego and vanity. Of course, I'd rather have a few more T-cells and a little less character. Randy Shilts

I have mixed feelings on whether it's really necessary at this point and time though. The event, as it is today, is still fairly small and unstructured. Currently, the gathering is only known by those of us who visit AidsMeds. I think think once everything is finalized a sticky thread at the top will suffice to get the information out rather than sending everyone to another website to get information.

However, I also think the website is a great tool to get the word out to a larger audience over time. That is if that's what the group wants. You see, maintaining this website and updating it over a period of time will eventually get it placed on the various search engines allowing others to find out about the gathering without visiting AidsMeds. Of course, by doing this, the gathering doesn't remain as intimate.

Do we want to keep the gathering within the AidsMeds family or do we want to reach out to a larger audience?

WOW!! JUST WAY TOO AMAZING BAILEY!! When we see this kind of comittment to an event, especially from one who is not sure of his attendance, it creates energy and momentum. This energy and momentum is what will guarantee an amazing event!

I can't imagine the site getting that many hits so I don't think we'll have to worry about "outsiders" coming on. But if they do, great. If they come, even better.

Allaq mention something about posting names of attendees and dates and times of arrival. I'm not sure putting the names on there would be such a great idea. Dates and times of arrival and departures are fine. People can look up these dates and try to arrange their own flight schedules to match up with what is already posted.

Maybe I'm just a suspicious person at heart (I would like to think not) but putting names to go with the dates and times can a little iffy. I think a separate names list would be fine, though.

tweaked the site to change the white text to light gray, seems to be less harsh for Ann who has dodgy eyesight . Also eliminated text that rolled over in the green sidebar area making some pages difficult to read. Thanks ann

I think it's because it's an external site. However, the same information is usually published here in this forum, at least it was last year. I think the 'difference' may be that to find the information here, you have to be ON THIS SITE... where if published on the website, a complete stranger could come across it.

A small but distinct difference, but either way, the information is typically published somewhere and accessible.

edit: deleted guestbook as it just seems redundant and unnecessary.

One of the good benefits of this that I can readily see is the 'latest updates' blog to direct people to particular threads, like the tshirt design contest thread. Not everyone has time to read all the gathering threads and might use this site as a resource to check out those important threads.

tweaked the site to change the white text to light gray, seems to be less harsh for Ann who has dodgy eyesight . Also eliminated text that rolled over in the green sidebar area making some pages difficult to read. Thanks ann

"...health will finally be seen not as a blessing to be wished for, but as a human right to be fought for." Kofi Annan

Nymphomaniac: a woman as obsessed with sex as an average man. Mignon McLaughlin

HIV is certainly character-building. It's made me see all of the shallow things we cling to, like ego and vanity. Of course, I'd rather have a few more T-cells and a little less character. Randy Shilts

Nice website, Bailey. I need to update/correct the numbers in the Donations page. The ending balance to be rolled over to the 07 Grants Committee is $300.82. This includes a new $50 donation from a member (which arrived before we even closed the 2006 books) and a current $200 pledge. That brought the total to about $500. There is also another pledge of $100 which brings the current total to $600. There were 2 other members who have communicated that they would be donating (amount unspecified yet).

Bailey,I'm starting to put together a booklet of information on topics such as getting from the airport to the hotel, public transportation within San Francisco, short walks that start at the hotel door, places to eat, and other stuff that I think would come in handy for visitors. I was thinking this could be included on the Informational Website. Or I could print out copies that can be given to people when they arrive at the hotel. Or we could do both--on the website and also a hard copy for each AMG guest at the front desk of the hotel.